We were so looking forward to our stay in Osaka not only for the quality time we would spend with my Uncle Shang, Aunt Yukari and cousins Branden and Joshua but also for all the fun comfort food Osaka has to offer.

We met up with Mom and Kathy at the Hong Kong airport for a connecting flight to Osaka on Cathay Pacific. Our relatives picked us up at the Kansai airport and welcomed us into their home, where we would be staying.  The first thing we noticed when we landed in Japan was the gazillion vending machines everywhere.  We loved the novelty of buying canned coffee that came out piping hot.  We also had fun going to restaurants were you would order your food at a machine before they served you-- pretty efficient!

Our first dinner was at a kushi yaki house, a place where you pick various skewers of meat and veggies, batter it up like tempura, and deep fry it in a pot of oil at your table.  You can choose from an assortment of sauces, similar to Chinese hot pot, and dip the deep fried yumminess in.  Branden got us hooked on sweet potato tempura with maple syrup-- he's still a Canadian at heart!

We had our bellies set on the real deal okonomiyaki (Japanese filled pancake) and takoyaki (battered octopus balls) in Osaka, and when we mentioned this to Aunt Yukari, she graciously cooked up a storm of okonomomiyaki and yakisoba in front of us for dinner one night.  Branden has mastered the art of making takoyaki and showed us his skills using a cool takoyaki grill...so nifty, we ended up picking up a grill ourselves!  Branden got pretty creative with the takoyaki fillings and made some with cheese and kimchi, which were really delicious.  We tried to give it a go making takoyaki, but our balls didn't quite quite make the cut.  We'll have to keep practicing when we get back home!

The ramen in Osaka is mouth-watering a-maaaaaaaa-zing, and we thought Benkei and Motomachi in Vancouver were good!  Our relatives took us to this awesome ramen shop, and we had tonkotsu shoyu and shio ramen with fatty pork washed down with some draft beeru.  This place also made some of the best gyoza we've ever tasted.

We went on a day trip to Kyoto and ate soba noodles at this cute little shop.  My soba set came with tofu done three ways, and Felix had salty sweet fish on top of his noodles.  Each set also came with a few side dishes of pickles and veggies.  Everything is presented so beautifully that you almost don't want to eat it.

We wanted our last meal with our family to be fun and casual, so we suggested a yakitori bar-- nothing beats meat on a stick!  I can't remember all the tasty skewers we had, but the standouts were pork belly, onigiri, chicken skin, spicy chicken, pork sausages and meatballs.  Since we were at a bar, we just had to sample the local draft beer as well as some Calpis chu-hi, a yogurt cocktail that contains shochu (tastes better than it sounds).

Even though we spent just a few days in Osaka, we had a blast hanging out with our cousins, filling our bellies and soaking in the sights and culture!